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I smell like lavender and peppermint essential oils right now, sort of like a candy cane during the holidays but in reality it is a mix of essential oils rubbed into tired arthritic body parts, mostly my back and hip and they help with some relief. Not much, but enough that I don’t feel completely insane.

I had a rough month, my pain almost always at a 10 and a lot of nausea and headaches and flu like symptoms. Seems like I quite possibly have caught a flu bug but I am not overly concerned. Normally I get Pneumonia every year and am on several rounds of antibiotics, so this year having nothing more than what *might* be a flu is a beautiful thing.

I know that I am only feeling as healthy as I have been because of Plexus products. My weight loss and inches loss have been slow but consistent. My IBS symptoms 99% gone and nearly all my other health woes have also been fixed by the healing in my gut. Sometimes, I still fear drinking a glass of milk and then remember that I can and I won’t get sick. I love that feeling, the feeling of not being afraid of consuming something.

You see, my stomach issues had become so bad that even water would often set me off. I was quite literally at my wits end, not able to consume anything and not be sick. Coffee, tea, milk, water, never mind actual food – all made me good and sick.

Now? I can and do eat fruit and berries and can drink juice and milk and LOTS of water and coffee and whatever else I want, though my appetite is curbed away from sweets for the most part it is nice to know that I don’t have to AVOID eating them, I CAN eat, I just don’t HAVE to snack/eat the sugars I was.

A year ago I never would have thought that I would have energy.I never thought I would be cooking or cleaning.
I never thought that I would be alert enough to memorize scripture and take time to REALLY pray.
A year ago I doubted I would be alive by the time I hit my 30th birthday and now that I am 30 I feel great.

I have lost over 20lbs, that’s 20 lbs of butter and I have lost just as many inches off my waist, hips and thighs. I have a long way to go but at least I know I am on the path to being healthy. Which is a far cry from wondering if I would even be alive today.

First some quick house-keeping! Not interested? Just scroll down! Thank you for your support!

In the first three months of using Plexus products the inflammation in my blood went down 60% causing less pain, I gained energy and quit napping while getting a better quality sleep at night. I started using the Triplex Combo right out of the gate because I knew I had gut problems, which are caused by regular white sugar, chemicals and medications, including antibiotics. I lost 18lbs and 20 inches in 3 months and I am STILL losing and STILL feeling better each day!

Anyone who places a $70 or more order between January 17th and January 24th will get a FREE PRODUCT (shipped separately by me)! That’s $30 free!

**order must be placed as a preferred customer, plus you get extra savings shopping preferred!!**

Now that the housekeeping is out of the way let’s get to writing as part of the Five Minute Friday flash mob of writers! Where we write for five minutes flat on a prompt and link up for some awesome encouragement and a whole lot of fun!

This week’s prompt is SEND

GO!

I was almost sent to the hospital last night. They wanted to send me because I was in full blown panic attack mode. I don’t know what happened. It often feels like every time I take steps to get closer to God, more reading, more writing, more GOD and more LOVE that Satan wiggles his way in and tries to pry me away from God.

Yet, Satan can’t win and God won’t send me to the fiery pits of hell because of a panic attack because when it is over? I return back to Him. I give Him the glory and the thanks for my safety. I know that He would never hurt me. I know that through Him I am safe and that whatever life throws at me is a lie that Satan has told.

So I calmed down and didn’t end up in the hospital. They didn’t have to step in and send me because God intervened and hushed Satan, stopping him in his tracks the way Jesus did while Satan tried to tempt Him for all those days.

I am God’s child. I prayed Jesus into my heart. I believe He is my Saviour and that He died for me on Calvary that day to open the gates for each one of us who truly believes! I know when my time comes that God will look at me as His faithful servant and send me to Heaven, send me Home!

I have never been one to make a New Years resolution. Mostly because I have never needed to quit smoking and I know the stats on weight loss etc so I figured why bother?

This past year I did participate in Ann Voskamp’s Jesus Project challenge to write 1000 things I am grateful for in a year. I reached over 3000!!! And? I am still counting!!

In September I decided to make some changes to my health and with a 60 day hassle-free money back guarantee I felt like I had nothing to lose. I felt awful and slept constantly. Now I am almost 18lbs lighter and have lost 20 inches!! The best part? I don’t nap anymore, I have energy to live my life instead of sleep it away and I haven’t made any changes other than adding Plexus to my life.

I began reading more Christ focused books this year. Ann Voskamp, Holley Gerth, and several others. I have also started the One Year Bible on the FREE Bible app that gives you 15 minutes of reading a day to read the Bible chronologically. I am excited to continue that through the New Year!! Tyndale house is awesome for gifting such an important book to the app!

Overall, I think this year was probably one of the most successful and least stressful of my life. The only thing I can attribute that to is God, who not only saves me from sin, but saves me from myself.

What are your hopes for the new year? How do you plan to reach your goals?

I tried this new cleansing conditioner in lew of shampoo called Tweak-d Restore Self Cleansing Hair Treatment. You put it on dry hair and let it soak in for five to ten minutes. I placed it on my hair, which took a lot more for my hair than the instructions suggested. Then I sat in the steamy washroom for about 10 minutes and followed the directions, adding some water to my head and massaging then adding a little bit more of the cleansing conditioner, massaging my scalp and then rinsing well.

Honestly? This product just didn’t do anything for my hair. It cleaned and conditioned it but I actually would say that my daughters Herbal Essence works BETTER! For all that work to get subpar results just didn’t sit right with me. A THICK hair treatment like that should have left my hair feeling silky soft and instead I actually thought it felt sort of crunchy while drying. I don’t use heat or any products in my hair so this was also alarming. However once fully dried it feels normal and doesn’t feel dirty so I guess it did do the cleansing portion.

I noticed I have some staining coming back on one of my teeth and no money to go to get a cleaning right now. I did a spot treatment of hydrogen peroxide on that tooth with a Q-Tip and then brushed and rinsed really well. It lightened up a little bit but I am wondering what a safer solution would be perhaps some whitening toothpaste that actually works? Suggestions?

For Christmas I got those little EOS Lip Balm‘s. They are the ball shape you have probably seen in Walmart or your drug store. I have strawberry and passion fruit. This is my first time using them and they are so silky smooth. I struggle to find a lip balm that I don’t find sticky. I hate getting my long hair or my dog hair stuck to my lips. It’s just not attractive, or tasty! So I am really happy that these are so silky and unique and the ball shape is ingenious as they won’t be getting lost in my purse, I hope.

Tonight when I tucked in my daughter she said “you smell like strawberry, it smells good” I was shocked because she never hands out compliments, especially when it’s bedtime and she is being forced to conform to a rancid bedtime of 8:30 AKA 10. The strawberry smell was the EOS Lip Balm and I actually had expected her to comment on the Tweak-d smell of my hair because it is a nutty shea buttery smell. I would have to look at the ingredients as I don’t remember exactly, but it’s a grown up more natural fragrance than many hair products, which I appreciate as it didn’t bug my allergies.

Next one of my favorite products this year, the Goody TangleFix! It is a lot like the Tangle Teezer from what I can tell, though I don’t have a Tangle Teezer to compare but I think this one is better because it is slightly arched to apply even pressure to the scalp and one side is wider and the other narrower so bigger hands can hold it from the wider side and smaller from the narrow side. This brush also works GREAT for sensitive scalps. I find the TangleFix helps fly-aways and when used regularly is a great everyday brush that doesn’t damage the hair.

Finally, my FAVORITE, MUST HAVE, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED PRODUCT has to do with overall health and a surprise weight loss! I started to use Plexus products back in September. I have a lot of weight to lose but I actually started to use them because they heal the gut from the inside and that helps your overall health and allows your much healthier body to start shedding the extra without dieting or having to exercise. I have lost a total of 20 inches in that time and to me that is absolutely amazing because I have gained so much weight because of medications and no matter what I have tried I just couldn’t budge the scale down, or the inches.

I am still nowhere near where I want to be but I am 20 inches closer! I am sort of angry I didn’t start a year ago when I first heard about this awesome all natural health company. The happy part? If I continue to have the exact same results continued for the next nine months I will be down about 80lbs and who knows how many inches. That is like an amazing WOW to me because I never imagined being able to lose at all, never mind feeling like I have a completely reasonable and doable timeline!

What are your favorite products? If you have used any of these did you like them? Thoughts?

Born and raised in Kenora, Ontario Canada, Marisa was a teen mom who has overcome incredible circumstances in order to provide the best life she can for her small family. Avid reader, blogger and a God-loving Christian, are just a few of the titles Marisa holds. Reading the Word and learning about God and His plans for her life are her current mission.